My little man Arnie, is very restless today. He is still confined to mostly inside activities and I have taken him to the underground car park for a bit of stimulation, but until his vaccinations are done I can't take him to public places or walk him on the ground. I can tell he needs some stimulation, but theres only so much I can do in the apartment. He's walking around whimpering and will come over and nibble on me. Over the weekend I had him out at my parents place to meet my brothers GSP and they had a great time playing, but now its Monday and back to normal. The earliest he can have his vaccination is on the 29th, so thats when I will do it, but in the meantime, what suggestions are there for a restless puppy? I also think he is so restless atm because he's teething. Is that possible? He doesn't have a full set of baby teeth yet and I think the ones coming through are bothering him, because he keeps sticking stuff in his mouth today.
You can take him out places, just carry him. I know a few people who used a bag (not plastic) to carry them in, or a wrap shawl like they use for babies. Just hang around shops, go to a park, or anywhere really will help tire him out. It's also good to start their socialisation with people and get used to the hustle and bustle of the outside world. He could be teething.......ice cubes or a wet towel which has been in the freezer will help.
My dog had his tail docked at 13 months and the initial days of recovery made him very restless ......probably mostly due to pain rather than the restrictions he was on. He was getting most of his food given to him via frozen kongs and games .....I had a massive stack of cardboard receptacles .....kitchen roll tubes,toilet rolls ,iPad boxes and I used to hide pieces of food in them and let him just rip them up and chew to find the food.....Indulgently I also went to IKEA and bought a load of soft toys for him to completely disembowel...( he's never been able to make a soft toy last!) but a cheaper way to do this would be to nip to a charity shop or car boot sale and stock up there,taking care to supervise as Childs soft toys can have plastic eyes and buttons that can come off ..... We played 'find it' a lot ....hiding toys and pieces of food ....it doesn't have to be complicated for a pup ,you can make it really easy for them to find,they soon get the idea and love it.....Hope these few ideas help a bit ? X
I agree with Naya, carry him out and about. Sit outside local shops and let him see the world and hear it. It's important that he hears things like police/ambulance sirens, sees people in uniform, children, cats, dogs, birds, joggers, children on bikes and playing ball. In the apartment have training sessions with him. If he's focused on you and learning new cues he won't be restless. Start training and practising loose lead walking ready for when he can go out. Training tires out little brains. You can play games similar to pass the parcel by wrapping treats/kibble on layers of paper and letting Arnie unravel the layers to find the treats. Play fetch games, gentle tug games, something like a kong wobbler to keep him busy working to get his meal.
I took Annie out and about in a big bag. She meet lots of new people, animals and cars. She love watching the birds too. You could take him outside a school so he meets children too. You can get balls which you put their food in and they push them around (Activity Interactive Treat Dispensing Ball). That would keep him busy
I carry my pups - I use a baby sling when they get too heavy (£5 second hand from ebay) they need to experience every kind of people and traffic long before they are clear to go on the ground. .
Yeah, thanks for the suggestions everyone.I have been carrying him. He gets a bit fidgety and wants to get down. He's doing well though, we walk him (carrying) every afternoon, and his nipping has improved so much. Loose leash I do in the car park garage underground, but obviously that's not very stimulating. I am trying my best while I am on leave. I go back to work mid April, so then he's gonna have to be by himself. I am absolutely loving having a puppy at the moment. The toilet work is annoying, but the obedience stuff is so much fun. And watching my wife's face when she comes home is priceless. Soon, we will be moving out of this crummy apartment and into a house. Things should be easier then. I am loving my little Arnie man at the moment.
I was just wondering, when you go back to work how long will Arnie be by himself as he will be a young pup still?
I work shifts. Two days and two nights and then four off. When I go back my wife will have him for two weeks and then after that we will reassess. I am hoping he will be ok by himself then, but if he's not my parents live ten minutes away, so my mum can come keep him company while we are working.
A young puppy can not be left alone all day while you are at work. He will need toileting, feeding, play and socialisation with people, dogs etc. Most of us would only leave a young puppy for a maximum of 2 - 3 hours depending upon the puppy's age.
Yeah, I am well aware of the importance of socialisation when they are young. I am doing what I can at the moment, and I am sure it will be easier when we can go walking on the ground too. Unfortunately, our circumstances allows me a certain amount of time off work, and then when I go back my wife has time off. After that, we are gonna have to work something else out. Like I said, my parents can help and we aren't ruling out doggy day care on some days. In a perfect world I would be able to work from home and dedicate more time to Arnie, but the world isn't perfect. In my world I am living in at the moment I am doing my best. I am sure he will be ok in a few weeks time to be by himself for a few hours, and then have mum pop around for an hour or so in the middle of the day, and then have my wife come home before me. He will have sporadic times of people coming around every day. On the days when I am off work, I intend to go fishing with him, and camping and doing outdoors type things, however, there will be down periods for him when I can't be there.
That's fine as long as he has people coming to see him during the day for play, walks feeding etc. It just sounded as if you were going to leave him all day by himself. I don't know if you have started yet but if not it is worth getting Arnie used to being by himself for a short while and then gradually building up the time ready for when you go back to work. It will ease him into the change.
Yeah I have been doing a little of that. This morning I had him on the balcony for a short period while I was doing the dishes and sometimes I will pop him in the crate when I take the rubbish down, or simple things like that. Usually he's fine in the crate for a short period, but he didn't like it this morning. I think he just had a huge amount of energy to get out and felt like complaining would help. Silly boy. I won't just leave him for an entire day by himself. I will do everything I can to have someone there at periods during the day, but he will have to be alone for some times as well. Anyway, with that said, I still have a few weeks of leave up my sleeve and then my wife has two weeks of leave during school holidays (she's a primary school teacher), so we will see how we are traveling then. Hopefully out of hte apartment and in the house by then
I'm sure life will be much easier once you've moved and Arnie has a garden to play in as well. It's important to keep working on the separation so Arnie is relaxed about being left. For lots of us we don't like leaving an adult dog for more than around 4hours but all dogs need to be able to spend time alone without anxiety. You could think about using filled kings while you leave Arnie. I've never used a filled Kong with Juno, just give her a nylabone when we're going out. She doesn't even chew it anymore, just has possession of it. There's lots of info about using Kongs if you search in the forum with suggestions for fillings.
Hi @Somatic it can be pretty tough juggling puppy and work, and its fab if you can work from home or have extended family and friends to step in and help. Sadly a lot of us are not in that position. Work hard on the crate training and make the crate THE place to be safe and comfy. Lilly was left on her own in a crate for 3 hours or so in the morning, then another 3 hours in the afternoon, 3 days a week from about 15 weeks I think. OH came home for an hour or so at lunch, but after a few more weeks, she had a play but no pee or poop so we gradually extended the crate time (moving "lunch" progressively back a bit) until she was crated 8.30 until 3.00 (school hours). "Holds hands up in horror" - I would have probably been shot down now for suggesting that!! Needs must. We took it slow. We stuck a toe in the water, we responded to the situation as we found it. We have a laid back calm and sensible (mostly) labrador that wasn't much of a chewer and was safe to leave in the kitchen, with crate open from before a year old. Not all labradors are the same, I am sure we know. I really think we were lucky. You need to think about making lots of plans, check out neighbours, friends, dog walkers, doggy daycare - expect the worst, that your dog might not settle in the crate for more than an hour or so and will howl the house down, annoy the neighbours, escape the crate, chew the skirtings, teatowels, TV controls, iPads..... Be prepared, adapt to your pups needs, and you will make it work.
